Photomechanical relief print on thin card stock from an original drawing on scratchboard, measuring 8 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches (21.6 x 24.1 cm). Kent's inscription, in German, is to Alex and Martha Geckler - a German couple with whom Kent worked on the construction of the residences at Briarcombe Farm in Winona, Minnesota between 1912 and 1913. Kent's time in Minnesota came as a result of his early career in the employ of the architectural firm, Lord, Hewlett and Tallent, one of whose partners - Austin Willard Lord - hailed from Winona. Kent served as the foreman; Alex Geckler was the foreman painter, in addition to being "(a) socialist by his convictions if not in any active sense" and "possessed of that most genuine and virile culture which has its roots in labor." Among the many ways Kent bonded with the Gecklers during his brief sojourn on the farm was their work advocating a collective bargaining agreement for the site carpenters, whom Kent learned earned less per hour than carpenters working in town. These concessions had come as a result of what is considered the first strike in Minnesota history. Kent notes that "(t)he victory that had resulted from the carpenters' show of solidarity having been followed by wage increases to other workers, a true fraternal spirit had come to prevail on the job... in commemoration of my impending departure all of us entered with enthusiasm into the planning of a great Sunday picnic to be held on Briarcombe Farm. The invitation, designed by me and handsomely printed on good stock, bore under the date of the affair my friend Alex Geckler's composition: Ihr die dieses Werk vollbracht/Als Kamerad mit mir geschafft,/Seid Sonntag alle meine Gäste;/Ich lad' euch ein zum Abschiedsfeste (You who accomplished this work/ as comrades with me/ be all my guests on Sunday;/ I invite you to the farewell party)."  The invitation appears as an illustration on page 269 of Kent's autobiography, It's Me O Lord (from which all earlier quotations in this description were taken), and two examples are known, one of which resides at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. PMA's example measures 6 3/16 by 7 3/16, pointing to the possibility that this is a proof, given its generous margins and inscription to people who had a hand in its genesis.  Aside from some even tanning and a few light spots, this is a fine example of a vanishingly rare and early Kent illustration. (We are grateful to Rockwell Kent scholar Jake Wien for his invaluable assistance in cataloguing this artwork).